Bus Update/Trying to Keep Things in Perspective

Well, I thought I should update everyone since I haven't talked about it in awhile, I AM still riding the bus to work - it is working out quite well. Especially since I don't seem to be prone to car sickness thank goodness. Except maybe on those awful rainy days when the bus seems to get extra full to the point of standing and the interior becomes so muggy that your skins feels disgustingly moist - yuck! Or when you manage to get the bus in the morning who has the AC set on arctic blast but you get the bus in the afternoon that lacks any sort of AC capability when the temperature hits 90. But, I dress in layers anyways and always have my handy flip flops in my bag so I am fairly prepared - though I need to remember to pack a cool beverage for those warm trips home in the afternoon AND I need to invest in some sort of mini-(preferably polka dotted)-umbrella to keep with me at all times tucked inside my little tote for the days that the weather men and women fail to warn me of impeding storms - has already happened once dangit. AND I love my umbrella - hubby bought it for me on Valentine's Day a year or two ago I think - it is grey and pink and HUGE - it is a golf umbrella I think - but it keeps me dry and also keeps a 5 foot radius clear around me on the sidewalk which is nice. :) But there are days that I inevitably forget to bring it and need a back up and I have been eying the mini-umbrellas at Borders and at Target...cute!

In having rode the bus for so long now I am beginning to reevaulate it all. Is it worth it? Am I really saving money? Because, really, I end up filling up my tank once a week anyway - but instead of filling up the whole tank and spending upwards of $50 I am only needing to fill up half my tank with maybe $25 worth of gas.

So, ok, I spend $15 a week on bus fare...$1.50 a ride, two rides a day. And I spend $25 in gas. That's $40 - and if I wasn't riding the bus I would be spending $50 to fill up a full tank at least once a week...So... Am I saving money?? Probably - in the long run. I am using my car less - less miles means less frequent trips for an oil change, less wear and tear, etc. BUT instead of leaving my car in a nice shaded garage I am now leaving it out in the elements at the park and ride lot....probably succumbing my tires to dry rot and putting stress on my leather interior and risking golf ball sized hail that our weather has been known to produce. :(

But in retrospect - I am now only driving 11 miles a day (5.5 to the mall and back) instead of 36 miles (17.8 to work and back) and I am not battling rush hour traffic on I-65. So I dunno.

I do get to read a lot more - I think I have finished about 5 books (scratch that it is 6!) in the last couple of weeks since I started riding the bus - whereas it would have taken me all summer to read that many if I didn't have the extra 40 minutes a day to do so.

Books I have been able to finish since I started riding the bus:

The Red Heart by James Alexander Thom

Run by Ann Patchett

Love in the Time of Cholera (Oprah's Book Club) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn: A Novel (P.S.) by Janis Hallowell

The Freedom Manifesto: How to Free Yourself from Anxiety,... by Tom Hodgkinson
(interest ideas about how to live different from mainstream - may be the topic of a later post)

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers - EXCELLENT BOOK!!


Currently reading:

Knit Together: Discover God's Pattern for Your Life by Debbie Macomber
(this is my evening wind down book by our bed)

How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer by Debbie Millman
(and this is my current bus book)

Interesting how the two books I am reading now are both by women named Debbie whose last names both start with M...huh. Weird.

BUT...once the weather turns cold...I dunno if I want to deal with riding the bus. I mean I can barely write off the benefits now when I am often stranded outside in summer thunderstorms getting soggy waiting 20-30 minutes for the bus to finally make it my way or when the weather is 90 some degrees out and the stop lacks a place to sit other than the sidewalk.

So, come winter, I dunno. Ice, snow, walking a few blocks in all that....hmmm. Will the new ICE route be worth it for me to keep riding the bus in the winter. It will be a nicer bus and hopefully on a more reliable schedule. Hmm...time will tell. No definite decisions now.